Sin orden ni concierto / Without Rhyme or Reason

Fantastic Musical Tale for Adults


Without Rhyme or Reason, for three actors, an instrumental group composed of flute, clarinet, horn, violin, cello, percussion, and harp, a children's choir, Orff instruments, and special effects, was written between November and December 1982 at the request of the Spanish Broadcasting Society (SER) for the station's participation in the "Prix Italia 1983," with its radio debut broadcast on SER on July 10, 1983.
The challenge of creating a musical work, but primarily for radio, initially presented a series of difficulties that gradually took shape into a dramatic-musical piece with abundant participation of traditional radio sound effects, reminiscent at times of a serial.
At first, I was drawn to a children's story with a strong didactic character; gradually, the original idea evolved, though always retaining the fantastic nature of a tale. Thus, it became a tale for adults, with elements and roots taken from the world of children. Just as in children's literature inanimate objects often come to life, becoming human when real humans disappear from the action, in Without Rhyme or Reason a metronome, a baton, and a complex character (the term Sound does not fully encompass it) present and debate their aesthetic positions, while each one's personality is "adorned" with vices and virtues (the latter to a lesser extent) typical of the human race.
All the action these three characters develop takes place while musicians, who are recording, take a break, leaving the studio empty. The musicians' return to the room brings the tale to an end. As an opening and closing, a group of children around 6 years old introduces and bids farewell to a fantastic, sometimes surreal world, and intervenes at certain moments in the action, within the musical part. The music serves at times to reinforce the action and at other times to slow it down, putting it in slow motion. The characters, for their part, possess a strange ability whereby any reference to a sound causes it to occur.
As a tale that it aims to be, Without Rhyme or Reason carries an implicit moral, which the listener must ultimately conclude, depending on which character they side with. This is a delicate point, as each one is laden with such a number of defects that it will not be easy to decide on the right choice, though they also each have a fair share of reason...
Without Rhyme or Reason was performed by Matilde Vilariño (the Baton), Rafael Taibo (the Sound) and Roberto Cruz (the Metronome). The children's choir of the Cuenca Conservatory was prepared by Mª Paz de la Guerra, and the composer himself directed the instrumental ensemble. The radio premiere took place on July 7, 1983, through the Spanish Broadcasting Society (S.E.R.).